WESTFIELD – Not even a week into this Indianapolis Colts training camp, the marked differences between the team’s current passing offense and its former passing attack are plainly obvious.

Coach Frank Reich, who doubles as the play caller, had long promised a quick-strike passing game that expeditiously gets the ball out of the quarterback's hand. And, so far in this camp, there’s been nothing to indicate Reich won’t make good on that promise.

The Colts might have one of the league’s big-armed quarterbacks in Andrew Luck, but that hasn’t deterred Reich and his staff from moving forward with their preferred approach. Crosses, screens and quick outs have been the orders of the day lately, with an emphasis being placed on getting the ball to targets in space where they can make plays. While Sunday’s night practice featured some deeper attempts and shots at the end zone during a lively red zone period, there’s no debating that this camp has been dominated by the short game.

The change has been so noticeable that a few deep balls late in Friday’s practice prompted questions for offensive coordinator Nick Sirianni. Was that intentional, Sirianni was asked.

“It was really more about what the defense is (doing),” he said. “The defense was giving it to us, so we made sure we were not giving it up. It just happened. It was not by design. It just happened to be that the ball got pushed downfield later in practice with Andrew.”

This brings to mind another question: What does Luck think about all this? He’s shown a long-standing stubbornness about holding onto to the football in the pocket, content to wait patiently for deep routes to develop down the field. But Luck seems to be taking an open-minded approach to it all, knowing that his offensive line — and, by extension, him personally — will benefit.

“I think there is a pretty conscious effort to get the ball into the wide receivers’, running backs’, tight ends’ hands,” he said. “It helps the O-line and helps the quarterback. It helps everybody.”

The good news for fans of the long ball is the Colts still possess the ability to go deep. Luck and receiver T.Y. Hilton hooked up for a pair of deep completions on Sunday night, with Hilton getting free on a corner route for about 25 yards and then finding the hole in a zone coverage for another big gain down the seam just a few plays later.

Those will come in handy if and when defenses adjust to the Colts’ tendency to make quick throws.

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Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck is working on his timing with new recievers.
Clark Wade/IndyStar, Clark Wade/IndyStar

More Kenny Moore

When the Colts lined up for the first time in full-time defensive drills during their initial practice on Thursday, there was a noticeable change on the back end of their defense.

Kenny Moore II was occupying the slot corner position, running — essentially — with the first-team defense. That trend has continued at times in the following days, with last year’s nickel corner, Nate Hairston, also squarely in the mix. But Moore has clearly made an impression on these defensive coaches, and they’re going to take a long look at the 2017 undrafted free agent.

“He’s a guy that likes to hit, likes to tackle, he’s instinctive,” defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus said. “Those are the guys you need inside there (in the slot) to play in this defense, zone or man. We’re excited where he is, and we’ll certainly look at some guys behind him that are going for that spot as well.”

That there are guys “behind” Moore to begin with suggests he’s seen as a serious candidate to win this job. The slot cornerback isn’t technically a starter in the base defense, but most teams are using nickel defense well more than half the time in today’s NFL. So, it’s a job that is critical to the unit.

Moore made an impression on General Manager Chris Ballard late last season when he was pressed into starting duty as a perimeter cornerback. That’s where most of his experience has come, but the current staff thinks he’s a good fit for the slot. Moore’s small stature (he's 5-9) could be less of a detriment to him playing nickel corner, an added benefit of this move.

Colts go live

Sunday’s practice was the team’s most physical of this camp, with Reich fulfilling his promise to have some live tackling at times during the next couple of weeks. The Colts had two periods of live hitting Sunday evening, and the move inspired some spirited play.

Running backs Robert Turbin and Jordan Wilkins were particularly physical during a run-game drill, with Turbin opening it by dropping his shoulder against safety Matthias Farley, who got knocked to the ground. Wilkins had his best day of camp thus far, not surprising for a guy who is built to take contact at 6-1 and 216 pounds.

Injury update

Linebacker Anthony Walker, who is in the running for a starting job this season, left practice with a groin injury and did not return.